Falling Down
by Novimber
Summary: Sometimes after 'Falling Down', It's hard to get back up. After a starved, beaten, young boy steps into the light of 'getting back up'. Will his new father figure get back up with him? The two struggle through everyday life, and as it seems, They eventually learn to get back up after every fall.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, Guys and Girls! This is my first fan-fiction, so please go easy on me! This is just a Prologue to the story; I would love to hear any criticism! Good or bad, I don't care. If you would like to hear more from me, I'll definitely put in longer chapters. I enjoy writing, and I hope whoever reads this enjoys my writing! On a side-note, I know this type of story is common, I just didn't know where to start! I don't have the most creative brain, so please bare with me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Or any of It's characters.

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Kakashi sighed; his long drawled-out mission was finally over. He wiped the sweat off of his face, and glanced around him. Pulling his hitai-ate down over his _gift-eye_. This moment was definitely not something he would like to remember.

The ground was _littered_ with _bodies_. Both enemy-nins _and_ his comrades were lying where the ground had once been. _"Kami, Why am I always the last_ _one left? First it was Rin, and then-_ " a bloodied hand of a dying enemy-nin that had grasped for anything it could grab, had brought Kakashi out of his rather depressing thoughts and back into the real world. He turned to look at the poor guy grabbing for his sandal, who was like the others, lying on the ground and covered in blood. "P-please.. Spare me-" and before the man could speak another word, Kakashi had already slit his throat. Blood had once again spilt onto the forest floor. He was never one to be very _merciful_.

Taking one last glance around him, and checking for any other survivors, he headed in the direction of Konohagakure; His _home_. Despite how tired and how much chakra he had used, he slowly made his way to his destination. He figured that Hiruzen wouldn't get _too_ mad at him if he had just gone straight home and slept. Besides, he wasn't hurt too badly, and it was almost two in the morning. The old man himself, would probably be sleeping.

Just as Kakashi was about to reach his destination, his apartment; He heard a tiny _squeak_ down the alley he was walking by. Still a bit jumpy from his mission, like most shinobi were after these types of missions; Kakashi nearly jumped out of his skin. _"It's probably a mouse… Or a cat… Or a-"_ Kakashi was once again brought out of his thoughts. This time it wasn't a hand trying to reach for his shoe, it sounded like crying.

Kakashi stood at the end of the alley, peering into it, seemingly searching for the creator of these sounds. His one eye adjusted to the darkness, looking for anything moving. He locked on to a small box, it was upside-down, and definitely covering something. As Kakashi walked towards it, making sure not to trip over any of the garbage littered around in this seemingly endless alley-way. As he got closer to the box, Kakashi could smell it. The smell of dirt, blood, literal crap and garbage grew stronger. He bent down next to the box, preparing to see a rat, or a squirrel. But what he _did_ see once he lifted the box; nearly made him break down into a fit of crying, and anger.

It was a little boy, no older than four, who was curled up tightly into the fetal position. His once sunshine yellow hair was now dirt and blood covered; giving it a brownish-redish tint. The boy's clothes were no better. Kakashi assumed that his diaper hadn't been changed in a week, and he wore a previously white shirt that was just barely clinging to his body, the little boy's shorts weren't any better, either.

The gray-haired shinobi stared in anger, not at the boy, but at whoever had let this happen to the boy. This boy was the Yondaime's son for Kami's sake! He should've been treated as a hero! Kakashi was starting to glare daggers as he was thinking of all of the things he would do to the people who had done this to the poor, defenseless boy; when Naruto, who was that said boy, had looked up to Kakashi, and immediately tried to scamper away, quivering and whimpering.

Kakashi's face softened as he looked to the boy, attempting to reach out to him, before realizing that his own hands and clothes were covered in blood. _"Shit, What do I do? I don't want to scare him!"_ the older man flinched away, watching how the little boy had tried to get away. "Don't worry, Naruto. I'm not going to hurt you." Naruto continued to cry, and sniffle. Profusely trying to get away from the 'big scary man' before hitting the end of the alley, his back against the bricks, he didn't want to get beaten _again_. Kakashi sighed, knowing it wouldn't be easy trying to get Naruto to come with him. "Come with me, Naruto. You'll be fine." The little boy shook his head over and over. Kakashi reached his arm out to him, trying to show him that he didn't pose a threat.

After five minutes of head-shaking, comforting, and crying, Naruto had finally calmed down. He had simply given up, and curled into a ball, again. Quickly, Kakashi grabbed Naruto and held him tight, making a promise to himself, and Minato, that he would keep this child safe.

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Hey, again. If you enjoyed the prologue, or if you didn't, I would love to hear from you! I've just started to write, so I'll take any advice I can get!

~Novimber


	2. Chapter 2

_And on to the actual story! Hopefully I'll pick up the pace, and future chapters will be longer, but I hope the few who read these, enjoy!. On a side-note, Kakashi is only in his late teens. 18-19 if I'm doing my math correctly, so he barely knows what he's doing!_

 _Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters._

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Kakashi laid Naruto down in the only bed in _his_ apartment, _his_ bed. He wasn't about to wake the boy up to bathe him, knowing that it would only cause the boy to panic further. But for now, said boy; was sleeping. It didn't look like he was going to wake up anytime soon, either. Kakashi had planned to just go to bed when he got home, but he had more important things to do. But being the lazy person he is, and the fact that he was exhausted physically, mentally, and of chakra, he just decided to slip into bed with the little boy. He could do all of those things tomorrow, anyways. He didn't even bother to take off his blood sodden clothes before drifting off to sleep beside the dirty, bloody mess of a four year old sleeping next to him. Not the most _sanitary_ , or _safe_ thing to do, if you ask me.

Kakashi woke up to a crash, and a loud thump. Adrenaline coursed through him, and he nearly jumped out of bed, before realizing that his little guest from last night wasn't in his bed. This made him panic, all the more, plus, it wasn't even morning yet.

He ran to his kitchen, and spotted the culprit. It was Naruto. He had his two little skinny legs sticking out of Kakashi's garbage can, Kakashi himself could only _guess_ at how the kid had gotten in there. At least it had been Naruto himself who created the noise by falling into the can, instead of some intruder who had come to end one, or both of their lives. Finally, the silver haired Jounin had gotten over his surprised stupor, and had walked over to Naruto's flailing legs, and picked him up. Naruto had a piece of moldy bread in his mouth, and upside-down, he looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi managed to grab the piece of bread with his spare hand, tossing it to the floor, while still holding Naruto upside down. "Don't eat that, Naruto. I'll make you something better, don't worry." Kakashi had spoken in the most soothing voice he could manage, but Naruto still started crying and flailing, swinging from side to side; still in Kakashi's grip.

Going on instinct, Kakashi pulled Naruto close, into a hug. He had started to cradle Naruto like a baby, trying to get him to stop crying. The blonde haired boy sniffled once more, but he still hadn't talked since Kakashi had first found him, which Kakashi had found weird.

A little while after Naruto had calmed down, he had decided to seat him down at the table, so he could wait for Kakashi to make him some food. The blonde shifted uncomfortably in the seat, His diaper making him itch and wiggle. Naruto's head had barely reached the top of the table, but he didn't mind; he just watched Kakashi make his food, nearly spooking at every little sound outside the kitchen window. Kakashi frowned, pondering if the kid would eat ramen, because; at the time, it was the only thing he had in his cupboards at the moment. He had been gone so long on his mission, that there wouldn't be a need to restock his cupboards and fridge. Kakashi spared a glance to the kitchen window, where Naruto's attention had momentarily been focused.

The sunrise was wonderful, even if it did remind Kakashi that he had to visit the Hokage to deliver his mission report. Sighing once again, the Jounin brought over the freshly cooked ramen noodles to the boy, noting to get him new clothes, and a bath. The blonde just stared at his noodles, unsure of what to do with the new substance. "Go on, Naruto. It's not poisoned." said Kakashi, softly. Naruto eyed the noodles some more, before peering into the cup, and sniffing it. To be honest, to Naruto, it smelt like heaven; but he still wasn't sure if this man was going to trick him or not. Kakashi, who was now sitting across from Naruto, reached out and plucked a couple noodles from the boy's cup, and plopped them in his mouth. "See? If you're not going to eat it, I will."

Naruto continued to look at the cup of ramen, then back to Kakashi, and then the ramen; waiting to see if anything would happen. After a few moments of just suspiciously staring, Naruto shakingly reached over to pluck a few noodles out of the small styrofoam cup with his skinny little hands, and at Kakashi's reassuring look, he plopped them in his mouth. Chewing for a moment, and skeptically glancing at Kakashi a few times, after Naruto had swallowed the ramen, he greedily grabbed more and shoveled it into his tiny mouth. Stuffing as much ramen in his mouth as he could, like Kakashi was about to eat it all on him, he finally finished it, and he was now moving on to drink all of the actual soup.

Grinning widely once he had finished, Kakashi's heart, or what was left of it after so many years of being in ANBU, literally melted. The kid had such a cute smile, Kakashi wondered why anyone would ever harm a kid like him, he'd also wondered why he hadn't taken the kid in before. Why hadn't he been there for him? The kid would've had a normal-ish life, if it hadn't been for his own negligence. He felt like he failed Minato-sensei a second time, He felt like he had failed Obito and Rin, for a second time. In reality, Kakashi felt like he had failed everyone around him. More depressing thoughts filled his head, when a small voice snapped him out of it.

It was Naruto's. "U-uh.. W-what's your n-name?" The boy's voice was so quiet, he could barely hear it; despite sitting almost right next to him. The silver haired Jounin once again felt like he had failed. He hadn't told the boy his name, damn! "I'm Kakashi, Naruto. I'm not here to hurt you, what-so-ever."

The blonde only nodded, and returned his attention to the window, pondering where he was, and why. Kakashi was the first to speak up, still speaking quite softly to the child. "Well, Naruto. You need to take a bath, and I need to do some errands. Would you like to come with me after I get you cleaned up?" Naruto was still watching the window; the sun had barely risen, he slowly turned to Kakashi and shook his head, no. "Hm, are you sure? You can always ride on my shoulders, if you want."

This didn't change Naruto's decision, he just merely shook his head, no, again. He definitely didn't want to been seen by all of those people. Kakashi nodded, at least the boy was responding to him, that was quite the improvement. The silver haired man had got off his chair, and motioned to Naruto for him to follow. At first, Naruto eyed him suspiciously, looking around to places that he could dart off to, but Kakashi reassured the boy that he wouldn't hurt him. The moment Naruto's feet had hit the cold tile floor, he had spared a look of confusion to Kakashi, and promptly vomited the contents of his stomach on the floor in front of him.

Which wasn't much, in the first place, but it didn't help the already starved young boy; who was already just skin and bones. The vomit had almost reached Kakashi, and it had nearly covered the blonde's shirt, and the floor. Kakashi was definitely not someone who would be fit to become a dad, and much less someone who was going to take care of a starved, beaten child, at that. He had been so focused on getting some food into the child, that he had forgotten that said child had probably not eaten in over a week. No wonder Naruto looked like he did, Kakashi berated himself once again for being so stupid, and carelessly handling his sensei's son.

The boy had started to fall, simply from exhaustion, towards Kakashi, at that. The silver Jounin stepped forward, narrowly avoiding the boy's bodily fluids on the floor, and grabbed him. Holding him by the armpits, Kakashi brought Naruto to the bath-tub, once again, narrowly avoiding the throw-up of noodles and digestive fluid.

Sitting the boy in the tub, Kakashi started to de-clothe him. Sure, his clothes had been dirtied and bloodied, but under those clothes, it was much worse. Kakashi winced at the sight of the shirtless boy. You could literally see the ribs on the boy, but that wasn't the worst part, his body was covered in bruises and scratches, Kakashi was starting to get angry. He was thinking of all the things he could do to incapacitate the sick, disgusting bastards that did this to him.

Snapping out of his disgust and anger, Kakashi began taking off the boy's shorts. The blonde's blood and dirt sodden hair, and his bruised skin was the least of Kakashi's worries, he had to get the diaper off of Naruto somehow, preferably without waking the poor child up. The dirty thing was crusty, and the diaper wasn't even white, clearly it was on longer than a week; the smell of it didn't help the man's attempt to take it off, either. He just hoped that Naruto wouldn't wake up in the middle of this, and panic further.

Kakashi was almost relieved that the boy wasn't awake for this, because it would just cause pain, confusion, and it would also cause the boy to veer farther from Kakashi's caring demeanor. The boy would just think that Kakashi was trying to hurt him, not to help him. The Jounin carried on with removing the crusted diaper, it revealing a burning rash on the boy's bottom. No four year old deserved this. Kakashi promised to himself that he wouldn't let this happen again.

Thankfully, most of the boy's waste had come off with the diaper, and Kakashi promptly tossed said diaper into a nearby garbage can, leaving the boy sitting inside the cold ceramic tub; against the back wall of it. Naruto looked exhausted and in pain, and which in every way, he was. Kakashi gingerly turned on the water, making sure that it was warm enough for the boy. When the water had reached the boy's toes, he jolted awake, the fear evident in his eyes; he was confused.

The Jounin grimaced, he didn't mean to scare the boy. "It's alright, Naruto. I'm just getting you cleaned up." The boy had started shaking his head, much like last night, when Kakashi had first met him. Naruto had starting to cry and quiver, attempting to get away from Kakashi once again. Staring at the four year old, Kakashi grabbed his shoulders and looked straight into the kid's eyes. He gave him a soft look, trying once again to show him that he wasn't going to hurt him. "It's okay, It's okay. I just want to get you washed up." Kakashi had said in a soothing voice, this made Naruto consider his words, and he stopped struggling.

Letting go of the boy, and turning the water off, Kakashi grabbed some soap; a began to wash the boy; trying his best to not get soap directly into the kid's cuts and scrapes. Naruto simply stared at him, unsure of how to react to the treatment. He still didn't trust this man, but he hadn't tried to hurt him like the others. Naruto was pondering on what to think of this man, when a splash of water hit his head; Kakashi had started to wash his hair.

The boy turned his head to Kakashi, who was kneading his hands in his hair; spreading shampoo and water into the boy's hair. Gingerly attempting to take out all of the dirt and blood in Naruto's hair, which it was literally covered in. This would be no easy job, but at least the boy was calmer than when he had first woken up. Another fifteen minutes of washing, and some tears, Naruto was clean, and outside of the tub.

Now clad in a white towel, Naruto gave a weak smile; his sunshine yellow hair was still slightly damp. The once clear water in the tub was now dirt brown, and was running down the drain. Kakashi sighed, mentally thanking Kami that the ordeal of washing Naruto was over. He quietly picked up the small boy, and carried him to his bedroom; giving him one of his own t-shirts. It was way too big for the boy, but it was way better than what the boy had previously been wearing.

Naruto clambered onto Kakashi's bed clumsily, immediately hiding under the covers. Kakashi sighed once again, before heading in the direction of the door. He still needed to tell Hiruzen about his mission, and now, about Naruto. He needed to pick up Naruto some clothes, as well. "Alright, Naruto. I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere." the on conformation that Naruto had understood him, that Kakashi had gotten; was some slight movement under the warm, cozy covers.

All that the silver haired Jounin wanted to do right now, was crawl under those covers and protect the boy indefinitely. He would, but he had much more important things to do. With one last glance at the small lump on his bed, Kakashi head out the apartment door, still wearing his blood covered vest. He really didn't want to leave the four year old all alone.

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 _Thanks for reading! I'll try to get a longer chapter out next, even if it does take a little longer than this one took. Thank's to everyone who had reviewed, most of last chapter's flaws are fixed! If you find anything in this chapter, feel free to point it out. I'm always accepting criticism!_

 _~Novimber_


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